By Evelyn Lucado
Editor-in-Chief
Following Friday evening’s Birthday Convocation ceremony, the Washington College Board of Visitors and Governors met on Feb. 21 in the Roy Kirby Jr. Stadium Skybox for the weekend’s regular session, where College leaders reflected on the fall semester and looked toward the future of the College.
Notable reports included urgings from Staff Council to address understaffing concerns and updates on proposed capital projects in student learning and living spaces.
The meeting opened with brief remarks from Interim President Dr. Bryan Matthews ’75 before moving to reports from Provost and Dean of the College Dr. Kiho Kim and Vice President and Dean of Students Sarah Feyerherm regarding the Academic Affairs and Student Success Committee and progress on the curriculum reimagining plan.
Dr. Kim and Feyerherm shared their overarching goals for the co-curricular reimagining, which include increasing the number and quality of extern- and internships available to students. Feyerherm said that Student Affairs’ “other overarching goal is to ensure that all students participate in at least one of each” experiential learning opportunity before graduating.
The College offers roughly 25-30 options for job shadowing experiences, Feyerherm said. While this number is down from previous years, Feyerherm said that the goal is to build back up the number of opportunities. To better prepare students for the professional world, Feyerherm said that first year seminars will include a weekly lab that occurs outside of class time hours which focuses on career readiness; FYS labs will start next academic year.
Feyerherm also spoke to proposed capital projects from Student Affairs, including improvements to the furniture in the Goose Nest and the Egg in Hodson, as well as renovations to the Caroline and Queen Anne residence halls.
Dr. Kim also spoke to the structure of the curriculum reimaging, explaining that the proposed changes are designed to allow students the freedom to explore different majors without the risk of finding themselves stuck in a large major. One of the primary structural changes of the plan is to break majors with the highest credit hour requirements into
smaller portions of credits.
“What I’m proposing that we do is [change] how we structure the curriculum rather than change the underlying fundamentals of the curriculum,” Dr. Kim said.
Dr. Kim and Feyerherm’s report was followed up by committee reports, where Chief Advancement and Revenue Officer Susie Chase ’90 P’21 shared the advancement committee’s push for unrestricted giving, or donations made without specific conditions for how the money is to be used.
Faculty Council Co-Chairs Drs. Andrew Oros, Rebecca Fox, and incoming Faculty Council Co-Chair Gabe Feinberg reported on behalf of the faculty council, sharing optimistic remarks regarding recent celebrations including Birthday Convocation and the College’s third annual Coast-to-Coast Toast. Faculty representatives also commented positively on increased communication between faculty and the Board.
Faculty Council representatives also brought up challenges that faculty have continued to face, such as stagnant wages, following the College’s efforts to close the budget deficit discovered last fiscal year. The response included incentivized departure programs and reductions to salary contribution limits, according to prior Elm coverage.
Representing staff, Council Chair Jack Despeaux commended College staff for their work to “solve the puzzle that was the Paycom to Colleague transition,” as well as commending Buildings and Grounds, who Despeaux said “quite literally broke the College out of an ice storm” last month.
While commending WC’s staff and reporting feelings that “the College is heading in the right direction,” Despeaux also said that many staff departments are still facing challenges with shortages, financial challenges, and increased workloads.
“Since the troubles of last year, the staff have found themselves making sacrifices at an abnormally high rate,” Despeaux said. “My concern, however…is that when staff do leave, they are recording finding higher-paying jobs and more fulfilling places.”
Despeaux concluded his report urging the board to continue thinking about revenue solutions.
Following Despeaux’s report, President of the SGA Zach Tipton gave an update on student life and future projects from the student government.
The SGA saw a significant increase in student senators following recent changes to SGA Bylaws, Tipton said, with a final tally of about 65 student senators. Tipton also reported on the five student presentations hosted during WC’s annual Leadership Summit. The presentation included proposals for a student-run stand at the Chestertown Farmer’s Market, improvements to the JFC’s facilities and gym culture, and renovations for first-year housing.
As for future projects, Tipton reported on SGA proposals for renovations to classroom spaces and classroom furniture, as well as a new 24-hour convenience store near Sassafrass Hall similar to Sophie’s Cafe.
The Board will meet again in May.